Stocking and in the method of producing same



Sept. 24, 1940. H. E. WILLIAMS 2,215,052

STOCKING AND IN THE METHOD OF PRODUCINC' SAME Filed Jari. 8, 1936Patented Sept. 24, 1940 Plafrslvrv OFFICE ,y

9 Claims.

This' invention comprises improvements inv stockings and in the methodof 'producing same. The invention refers to stockings of the fullyfashioned type provided with awelt, such stockings being usually knittedona C'ottons, Patent or other straight bar knitting'ma'chine.

In this class of stocking it is :customary to knit thewelt, usually aturnover or foldedfwelt, with comparatively coarse and/or rstrong yarn(e.jg cotton) andthe panel orl leg with comparatively fine; yarn (e. g.,silk) vandlin ordertovprovide maximum elasticity in thewelt which isrequired -to encircle the thigh vofthe wearer, the welt fabric 20possessesv considerably Aless 'extensibility or elasticity than that ofthe welt,I an v excessive .strain is frequently exerted upon said toppanel. portion when the stocking isbeing worn'by a personihavy l inggenerous or excessively large thighs, as it will 2B bek appreciated thattheconsider'able disparity in extensibility between the .weltlfabric andthe adjoining panel fabric results in the tighter panel fabric beingunduly .strainedl and distorted, the said panel fabric in factvrestricting the lexpansion of the lower rportion 'of 'the welt..This-.results in frequent yarn breakage or splitting of .the fabricnearthewelt. 5. v To overcome the above disadvantage kthe presentinvention provides a stocking wherein that part of the leg or paneladjoiningthe welt -is knitted sufhciently slack to provide said fabricwith a degree of elasticity equal or'substantially equal to that of theadjoiningfweltfabric,` fIt will, however, be appreciated that it isimpossible to con- 40 tinue the comparatively slack knittingthroughoutthe leg or panel, as' by so doing the fabric so knitted would have acoarse appearance. It will also be appreciated that the production of aband of fabric of uniform slackness at the top of the panel adjoiningthe welt would be equally objectionable as same would obviously detractfrom the appearance of the stocking, and produce an unsightly line wherethe stitches of the last course of slack stitches join the comparativelytight stitches in the panel. t

. This invention, however provides a stocking wherein liabilitytobreakage at the top of the panel adjoining the welt is eliminated orminimisedwithout in any way impairing the appearance of the stocking,and to this end the present invention provides a full-fashioned stockingwith welt in which extensibility or elasticity of the fabric at thepanel top adjoining the welt gradually or progressively decreases bystitch variation from the welt to the normal panel fabric. 5 For theApurpose of more fully describing the nature of f this inventionreference will now be vmade to the accompanying drawing, wherein thevfigure illustrates a fashioned ,stocking blank with welt produced inaccordance with the present invention.

Referring to the` stocking blank illustrated in the drawing, a is thewelt and b the panel. As is customary in this type of blank the welt a,which is preferably a folded welt,-is produced from comparatively coarseyarn and is knitted slacker, i. e., with longer stitches than the fabricof the panel b. Y' The upper `part of the panel adjoining the welt Iisshaped by narrowing (known as thigh narrow- A l, ings) inthe lwell knownmanner from the position i0 c-c to `lil-d, the major portion of thepanel from d-d to e-e being parallel,r and narrowing being againeffected from e-e to the ankle at f-f. So Afar as above-described theknitting is in accordance withl the customary practice on a C'ottons i6Patent machine. Previously, however, the whole `of the leg .or panelfrom the position c-c adjoining the welt has been produced from fabricof uniform` stiffness or elasticity, that is to say stitches of uniformsize. In this invention, how- 30 ever, theinitial stitch courseadjoining4 the' welt uy or apredetermined number of successive coursesis or are lknitted with comparatively long or slack stitches of the sameor substantially the same -lengthas the welt stitches which afford adegree 35 rof elasticity equal or substantially equal to that of theadjoining welt fabric, and the length or size of the stitches in theimmediately subsequent courses is slightly reduced at intervals untilthe required stitch size and elasticity or extensibility 40 of thefabric for the panel is reached when knitting of the panel is continuedwithout stitch variation. In the example illustrated the graduatedstiffening takes/place from c-c to g-g after which stitches of uniformsize or stiffness are pro- 45 duced throughout the blank.

It will be seen that the graduated ,stiifening terminates a shortdistance before the thigh narrowings terminate.

By way of example, in the vwelt a there mayv 50 n be 33 courses ofstitches per inch of fabric produced, the stitch formation being uniformthrougout the depth` of the welt, and at the junction between the Weltand panel, i. e., at the line c--c, the stitch size may be slightlyreduced 55 to say 38 courses per inch, and thence to the position g--g24 further stitch changes may be eiected at equal intervals at the rateof approximately a half course per inch until the stitch yarn may withadvantage be commenced before' completing the knitting of the welt; ForeXam-' ple, one side or fold of the welt may jbe composed of fabricknitted from cotton orf-othercomparatively coarse or thick yarn, whileat a suitable position in the depth of the other side or fold o-f thewelt, said cotton or likefabric is joined to the silk or othercomparatively fine fabric from which the panel is knitted.v Itthusfollows that each loop of the rst course of the panel will be loopedthrough a4 combined silk ,andV cotton loop` instead of through twocotton loops as heretofore. Hence the usual line of holes Iproduced atthe joint of welt and panel is rendered very much less. conspicuous,andin usev it is found that the strength of the article at such joint isincreased. In the finished stocking the .join between the cotton andsilk advantageously occurs at the outer side f the welt.

I claim:` l 1. A fully fashioned stocking comprising a welt and asingle` ply panel, characterized in. that a 'portion of said paneladjoining the welt is cornposed of stitches which gradually decrease inlength from the Welt tothe main portion of the panel, whereby theelasticity or extensibility of `thepanel top decreases progressivelyfrom `the welt to the main panel portion.

2. A fully fashioned stocking having a welt and a single ply paneladjoining the same, wherein the stitches of the fabric at thecommencement. of the panel immediately adjoining the welt are equal orsubstantially equal in length to the stitches of said adjoining welt andthat the stitch length decreases progressively .down ,the panel from thewelt to the `normal stitch length of the panel.

3. A fully fashioned stocking having a leg or panel section of singleply fabric and a welt, the latter being composed of stitches which arelarger thanthose of the leg or panel, and having the stitch length inthat area of the panel which adjoins the welt graduated down from thelong stitches at the welt to the normal-length stitches of the leg.

4. A fully fashioned stocking having .a single ply leg or panel sectionand a welt, the latter being composed of stitches which are longer than.those of the leg or panel, and having immediately below the welt anarea of the leg or panel section which is narrowed, in which area thestitch length decreases progressively down from the welt to the leg, thestitches of which are of normal length.

5. A method of producing a fully fashioned stocking having a welt and asingleply panel, which comprises knitting `the welt, knitting at leastone course of the single ply panel adjoining the Welt with slackstitches, gradually reducing the stitch length over the succeedingcourses until a predetermined normal length is attained, and thenknitting the remainder of the panel with stitches 'of uniform normallength.

` 6. A seh/edged blank for a fully fashioned stocking; comprising asingle ply leg or panel `section knitted vof comparatively fine yarn,and

a weltknitted of comparatively coarse yarn, the stitches thereof beingslacker than those of the major portion of said leg or panel section,said section having a band immediately below the welt in which thestitch length and` degree of slackness gradually decreases from that ofthe welt at the junction of the band therewith to that of` the majorportion of the panel section at its junctiontherewith. y

7. IA lknitted full-fashioned stocking comprising a welt sectioncomposed of relatively `long stitches of uniform length Walewise of thestock ing fabric and uniformly spaced coursewise thereof, a calf sectioncomposed of relatively shortstitches of. uniform length walewise of thestocking fabric and uniformly spaced coursewise thereof anda single plysection intermediate the lwelt section and the calf .section composed oflength, and a single ply panel section, the major portion of which iscomposed of stitches of uniform length which is less than that of saidwelt.stitches, said r`panel section having va portion'intermediate itsmain portion and the welt composed of stitches which .gradually increasefin length from said main portion to said welt.

9;..A` fully fashioned stocking comprising a welt section composed ofstitches of a predetermined length, and asingle ply panel section amajor portion of which is composed of stitches of uniform length whichis less than that of said 'welt stitches, said panel section having aportion intermediate itsmain portion and the welt, knitted from thesamevyarn as. said main portion,

,the stitches of which intermediate portion adjacent the welt areatrleast approximately of the same length as said welt stitches, whichlength gradually decreases to that of said main panel portion.

. I-IAROLD'ERNEST WILLIAMS.

